CALGARY — Just to set the record straight, the Canadiens’ Brendan Gallagher does not rub actual pickle juice on his legs before games.

When the Canadiens were in Edmonton this week, there was a report Gallagher and about seven of his teammates rub pickle juice on their legs.

When I asked Gallagher about it after the Canadiens’ morning skate Thursday at the Scotiabank Saddledome, he smiled and said: “It’s not actual pickle juice. We just call it that. I couldn’t even tell you what it is. It’s something … I think it’s German. You put it on your legs and it kind of gives them a little tingle.”

Does it smell like pickle juice?

“No, it’s just green,” Gallagher said with a chuckle. “It’s a liquid. If I had some around I’d show you … I don’t know where it went. A few of the guys do it.”

As was told to me by Brendan Gallagher. He says about 8 players do it. He said Shea Weber brought it with him from Nashville.. https://t.co/8j4FcLhg2M

Gallagher said he rubs whatever it is on his legs about five minutes before heading out on the ice for the pregame warmup.

“It makes your legs feel good, I guess,” he said. “I don’t know … it’s hard to explain. It doesn’t really warm them up … it makes them a little tingly. It’s sort of like if you take cold water and dump it on your legs … it kind of shocks your system a little bit. I don’t really know how to describe it.”

What’s it called?

“I have no idea … it’s German,” Gallagher said. “Weby (captain Shea Weber) brought It over. Someone did it in Nashville and then he started doing it here. There’s a few of us that do it.”

Trying to survive an 82-game NHL season is a challenge for every player and even more so for the 5-foot-9, 184-pound Gallagher who plays with a gritty style. Max Domi has the longest ironman streak on the Canadiens, playing in his 134th consecutive game Thursday against the Flames, followed by Jeff Petry (132) and Gallagher (126). Canadiens defenceman Karl Alzner had played in a remarkable 622 consecutive games before he was a healthy scratch in the season opener this year.

Domi took a therapy day on Wednesday, skipping practice, which is something Gallagher has also done this season and in the past.

What exactly is a therapy day?

“It’s really just a day of rest,” Gallagher said. “You get treatment and therapy and it’s all about the next game. Sometimes you need to practise, you need to get out there and skate. Sometimes you need a day off just to let your body recover. It’s not our call … it’s either the coaches or the training staff. You’ve got to go in there and get your treatment. And if your body’s not fit to practise, if it needs an extra rest to get ready for the next game, then you take a therapy day and you better be ready to play the next day.”

Gallagher said the key to staying healthy starts with summer workouts when there is actually time to go to the gym regularly. Gallagher added that once the season starts, he’s lucky if he can get in the gym twice a week.

“You know it’s going to be a battle,” said Gallagher, who gets beaten like a human piñata while standing in front of the opposition’s net. “You’re never really 100-per-cent healthy, but you’re healthy enough. Your body can recover from stuff and everyone’s kind of the same way. You just do what you need to do to get ready to play the next game.”

National Football League running backs talk about how hard it is for them to get out of bed the day after a game — and they only get beaten up once a week and 16 times a season. Gallagher is like a human crash-test dummy 82 times a season, sometimes on back-to-back nights.

“That’s just our sport,” he said. “I think everyone goes through the same thing. I obviously need to play in those (tough) areas to be successful. It’s fun to do that, but you’re going to be sore. That’s why we have as many trainers and people to make us recover as quick as we do around here. After the game, you do what you need to do to recover and then you get ready for the next one.

“You kind of get used to it, I guess, a little bit,” he added. “I just imagine everyone feels the same way. It’s part of the sport. You go out, you battle, you compete. Your adrenalin is kind of going, so you don’t feel stuff. Usually the next day you’re a little sore, a little stiff. But we’ve been doing this for a while. We kind of understand you just move on and deal with it and get ready to play the next one.”

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